What Motherboard for 7800X3D/9800X3D

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I am looking to build either a 7800X3D setup or waiting for a little bit and getting a 9800X3D. What motherboard is the go to. My usage is just gaming. No productivity at all. Other considerations it has to be White/Silver and it has to have optical out.

The last AMD setup I owned was the 5950x and Gigabyte B550 combo.

I don't really have a set budget for the motherboard so as long as it under £1000
 
Prime B650-Plus is the cheapest with spdif that I can see (black PCB, silver sinks). Thermal performance is not great, but would be fine with the 7800X3D.

MSI B650 Edge would be a pricier alternative (black PCB, white/grey sinks).

If you want USB4, X870 Pro RS/Steel Legend (white PCB, white/grey sinks) or X870 Aorus Elite AX Ice (white PCB, white/grey sinks)
 
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Prime B650-Plus is the cheapest with spdif that I can see (black PCB, silver sinks). Thermal performance is not great, but would be fine with the 7800X3D.

MSI B650 Edge would be a pricier alternative (black PCB, white/grey sinks).

If you want USB4, X870 Pro RS/Steel Legend (white PCB, white/grey sinks) or X870 Aorus Elite AX Ice (white PCB, white/grey sinks)


Thanks for your suggestions. I have been looking at the X870 Aorus Elite AX ICE for the past few days. Can I ask what the diff between X870 and X870E?
 
Thanks for your suggestions. I have been looking at the X870 Aorus Elite AX ICE for the past few days. Can I ask what the diff between X870 and X870E?
X870 is essentially a rebrand of B650E so has less lanes on the chipset.

If you plan to use more than 2 M.2 the Aorus will cut the GPU down to X8 mode.

Have you had a look at the X870 steel legend? it has an 8 layer PCB vs 6 on the Aorus, better onboard audio and you can use all 3 M.2 without effecting the GPU lanes. You do however lose the postcode and GPU quick release although it does come in a bit cheaper.
 
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once x8xx series motherboards come out, i'd get any of the x670/b650 motherboards at a lower price. I don't see any benefit with these new motherboards besides the mandatory USB4 support.. especially as others have mentioned, the x870 is essentially a rebranded x670e motherboard.

If you 'need' USB4, then the Asrock Taichi 6xx series is the only board with it
 
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Use this spreadsheet to compare


I was in the same boat as you, especially about the spdif out and just went with a board that had it in my price range with the highest ALC number because higher=better right? NO! avoid the ALC4080 if you want spdif out it is awful. I've ended up spending another £60+ changing my audio set up away from spdif as it's that annoying. this is on a b650 tomahawk btw. I just wanted something cheap as i picked up a 7800X3D for £280 so the whole upgrade was done as cheap as possible without losing too many features.

7800X3D performance is great though on the b650. With minimal RAM tweaking and running a curve offset I score just about 19k on CR23
 
Use this spreadsheet to compare


I was in the same boat as you, especially about the spdif out and just went with a board that had it in my price range with the highest ALC number because higher=better right? NO! avoid the ALC4080 if you want spdif out it is awful. I've ended up spending another £60+ changing my audio set up away from spdif as it's that annoying. this is on a b650 tomahawk btw. I just wanted something cheap as i picked up a 7800X3D for £280 so the whole upgrade was done as cheap as possible without losing too many features.

7800X3D performance is great though on the b650. With minimal RAM tweaking and running a curve offset I score just about 19k on CR23

My plan is to use SPdif to an external dac. I never use onboard sound. I would like to build a new gaming setup and connect it to my dac of my hi fi.
 
My plan is to use SPdif to an external dac. I never use onboard sound. I would like to build a new gaming setup and connect it to my dac of my hi fi.
Google spdif issues with alc4080, web is full of issues with pop and crackling noise and the ALC4080 is actually a hardwired USB device. I've never seen a set up like it before on a motherboardI. If you have to use spdif save yourself the headache and just avoid the ALC4080 chip set.
 
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Thanks for your suggestions. I have been looking at the X870 Aorus Elite AX ICE for the past few days. Can I ask what the diff between X870 and X870E?
I’m going to ask Buildzoid via Twitter if there is any benefit with going with X870 over X670/B650 for memory overclocking but at £270, that motherboard is a little too expensive when you can spend ~£80 less and get very similar features.
 
My plan is to use SPdif to an external dac. I never use onboard sound. I would like to build a new gaming setup and connect it to my dac of my hi fi.

I would recommend buying any board that fits your requirements minus SPDIF and purchase a sound card for SPDIF instead. If you are an audiophile, onboard audio is not the way to go.

As for a specific board: pick up an X670/B650 board that has a solid discount with the X870 release having veered around the corner already. For a gamer or someone that has no interest in USB4, X870 is just an increased cost. Pretty much any AM5 board nowadays can run 6000MT/s at 30-x-x-x with the right mem (check QVL lists) to complement the 7800X3D best. Any board can power a 7800X3D so going overkill on the VRM is of no benefit unless you expect to purchase a more power hungry CPU in the future. 7800X3D and 6000MT/s 30-x-x-x will be an ideal set-and-forget setup.

Rumours have started to circulate that the 9800X3D is going to be 12% faster in MT and 16% faster in ST than 7800X3D based on Cinebench scores. If it's less than or equal to 16% more expensive, it could be a good buy. It's allgedly launching at the end of this month.
 
I would recommend buying any board that fits your requirements minus SPDIF and purchase a sound card for SPDIF instead. If you are an audiophile, onboard audio is not the way to go.

As for a specific board: pick up an X670/B650 board that has a solid discount with the X870 release having veered around the corner already. For a gamer or someone that has no interest in USB4, X870 is just an increased cost. Pretty much any AM5 board nowadays can run 6000MT/s at 30-x-x-x with the right mem (check QVL lists) to complement the 7800X3D best. Any board can power a 7800X3D so going overkill on the VRM is of no benefit unless you expect to purchase a more power hungry CPU in the future. 7800X3D and 6000MT/s 30-x-x-x will be an ideal set-and-forget setup.

Rumours have started to circulate that the 9800X3D is going to be 12% faster in MT and 16% faster in ST than 7800X3D based on Cinebench scores. If it's less than or equal to 16% more expensive, it could be a good buy. It's allgedly launching at the end of this month.

If he's using onboard sound digital out then sound quality for onboard is irrelevant. It's digital.
 
If he's using onboard sound digital out then sound quality for onboard is irrelevant. It's digital.

I understand how you can interpret that but that isn't what I specifically stated nor compared in my post.

My point was that overpaying on a board just to get SPDIF is not worth it when you can purchase a dedicated sound card instead. And if you are an audiophile, a sound card is the way to go. Thank you for your insight on your interpretation.
 
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